Healthcare Waste Project Launches Capacity-Building and Awareness Activities in Mindanao

The Philippine Healthcare and Mercury Wastes Management Project (HCWM Project) launched its series of capacity-building and awareness-raising initiatives in Mindanao this week, beginning with CARAGA Regional Hospital (CRH) in Surigao City. Kicking off the activities was the Nurse Susie Roadshow on June 9, 2026, which featured discussions on plastic waste reduction and proper waste management.

Nurse Susie, the official mascot of the HCWM Project, became the center of attention at CRH as she paraded through the hospital together with nurses, doctors, and other personnel to the tune of her very own theme song. CRH is the fourth healthcare facility to be visited by the Nurse Susie Roadshow and is one of six partner hospitals of the HCWM Project.

Nurse Susie also represents the HCWM Project’s Toxics-Free Hospitals Campaign—an advocacy and awareness-raising initiative that promotes proper healthcare waste management as a way to reduce the release of toxic and hazardous chemicals and make hospitals safer for healthcare professionals, waste workers, patients, and communities.

The HCWM Project, implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in partnership with the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-EMB), and with non-government organization BAN Toxics as the executing entity, aims to improve healthcare waste management systems in the country, with a special focus on reducing the release and emission of toxic substances, especially from plastic waste. The project receives funding support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Following the roadshow, the HCWM Project conducted capacity-building workshops at CRH on June 10-11, which provided hospital personnel with training in leadership, enhanced skills and capacities for proper waste management, and advocacy, among others. Among the resource speakers were Ms. Rasheila Yanina Antasuda, Senior Environmental Management Specialist of the DENR-EMB Central Office, and Engr. Honey Deligero, OIC Section Chief of the Chemicals and Hazardous Waste Monitoring Section (CHWMS), who discussed policies and regulations governing healthcare waste management.

Meanwhile, Tom Fernan Bersabe, RN, and Engr. Peter Limen, RMP, of the Department of Health Region 13 served as the main trainers.

The project is set to conduct similar activities at Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City on June 16-18, and at Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) in Cagayan de Oro City on June 30-July 2. CRH, SPMC, and NMMC are partner hospitals of the HCWM Project that were officially onboarded in January this year.

Meanwhile, Nurse Susie also visited a daycare center in Barangay Washington, Surigao City, on June 10, delighting children, parents, and teachers. Part of the HCWM Project initiative is to conduct awareness-raising activities in communities surrounding its partner hospitals. During the activity, BAN Toxics introduced its Toxics-Free Waste-Free Schools Program (TFSP) and conducted discussions about the project and chemicals in children’s products, as well as a toy clinic where children’s items were screened for possible chemical content.`